Jonathan

Growing up, Jonathan had a great childhood and all the ingredients for success. He had a loving family that was moderately wealthy. They attended church together every Sunday and Wednesday. They lived in a nice neighborhood. Jonathan was sent to private schools to protect him from the dangers of the public school system.

Yet it was from within that safe environment that Jonathan became a drug dealer. He bought marijuana from a local grocer, a man respected in the community. Sometimes he even got pot from an usher in his church. Then he sold marijuana to his fellow students. For the most part, these students looked like him: white, middle to upper class, preppy and athletic. This wasn’t the ghetto. It was main-street U.S.A. It was Mayberry for the 21st Century.

The dark and seedy world most commonly associated with dealers and addicts was not Jonathan’s world. Who would have guessed just how dark his secrets were? No parent would have thought that he could be the type of person who would sell drugs. Yet he was exactly that type.

The real world is very different than what we like to imagine. Reality shatters our preconceived notions. It also raises questions like what went wrong? How can this be?